Avrya Bendi

This would go down in history as my favourite amchi dish. Everyone in my family knows how much I love bendi. And Avrya Bendi is top of the tops. Avro is very similar to the lima bean and the navy bean, though I am really not sure which it is. In Tamil, this is known as the Rangoon Mochai.

There was this one time when I took my friend to Bombay for two and a half weeks. I probably have relatives at every station on all three train suburban lines. Definitely every station from Bhayandar to Marine Lines. And I had to visit them all. And they all religiously served us the same things. Over and over again.

Batat Phow and Sabudana Khichdi if we were there at tea time and Avrya Bendi and Tendle and Bibbya Upkari (Ivy gourd and Cashew vegetable - something amchis serve to show their love for the people they are feeding.). My friend really must have thought this is the ONLY food that Konkani people eat.

1 cup Hyacinth Beans (Avro/Rangoon Mochai), soaked overnight and cooked
¼ cup Coconut, scraped
1 tbsp Tamarind Paste
2-3 Red Chillies
1 tsp Teppal (Triphala)
Salt to taste

For Tempering Version 1

1 tbsp Cooking Oil

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

½ tsp Asafoetida (Hing)

7-8 Curry Leaves

For Tempering Version 2

1 tbsp Cooking Oil

3-4 Small Garlic Pods, crushed slightly

Grind the coconut, tamarind, red chillies and a tablespoonful of the cooked beans to a fine paste.

Mix this paste with the cooked beans and add salt and a little water. Bring this to a boil.

In a small kadhai, heat the oil and add the ingredients for tempering based on your preference. (If using mustard seeds, add the curry leaves after the mustard has spluttered.) Add this to the boiling mixture and serve.

My favourite way to eat Bendi is with rice, Dali Saar, some phodiyo and upkari. And I want the world to know how I enjoy my comfort food, so this is off to dear Asha for the RCI Karnataka event.